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Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Roads & Circuses by Tom Mazzone

Satire, wit and laugh out loud moments.

Follow the rise and inevitable fall of manipulative Irish politician, Marcus O'Malley.
The political intrigue, laughable situations and humorous thoughts are well-written.
The characters are memorable though none of them are likeable or have any redeeming qualities.

Even if, like me, you're not into politics, it is good for laughs.

I received an ecopy from the author for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Some Civil Servants are not so civil.

Marcus O’Malley is the brown-nosing suck-up everyone despised in school. He also happens to be Ireland’s best known barrister who truly has it all: a beautiful runway-model wife, two perfect children, prestige, power and wealth. When he refuses a dangerous villain’s request to defend him of heinous crimes, Marcus is rightly intimidated. A seemingly random opportunity to run for political office pops up and only as means to save him from the threats does he decide to dive in.

With his reputation as a do-gooder, Marcus takes like a duck to water to the local scene and his meteoric rise through the party’s rank begins. But as he sets his sights on becoming Prime Minister, he must cooperate with unsavory colleagues, bide time and determine what’s best for him versus what’s best for the party. Could outside forces bring him down, ruin his career and potentially send him to jail? Can he play the game in the shark-infested waters of Irish politics? Does he want power just for the sake of having power? Is he able to see that the chaos and the mayhem in his life are self-created? Can he continue to fool all of the people all of the time? Including himself?

Roads & Circuses is a thrilling satirical look at the world of politics and the duplicitous mind of a politician. It’s not so much what a politician says or does that should worry you, it’s what they actually THINK! And although set in Ireland, Marcus O’Malley could exist in any country or political party in the world.

Tom Mazzone is the author of the West Dublin Series, a humorous social satire set in Ireland as the credit crunch of 2008 changed gears. Having worked with the public for over thirty years, Tom feels qualified to put certain types of people into small constricting boxes and then flog them for sport, for their own good and everyone else’s. It’s his way of giving back.

The second book, Verdant With Envy, is about a passports-for-cash scam, and will be released in the new coming year, 2016, where he’s pretty certain to upset certain people yet again, but certainly much worse.